6x19 Episode Tag: Just Stay
by Colourful Glitter
Summary: Jane pays Lisbon a visit later that night, after she tells him about Pike's D.C. offer. Jane has some things that he feels he should say and ends up saying more than he planned.


**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Here's another one-shot/episode tag. I'm still working on my other stories, don't worry. I just wanted to write this tag as well. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: The Mentalist is not mine.**

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Lisbon got up to answer her door. It was late and she wasn't expecting any visitors. She had only been home twenty minutes from her date with Pike. "Jane?" she blinked in surprise.

"Hey." Jane smiled, a little awkwardly, which wasn't like him. "I know it's late, but, uh…you don't-you don't have company or anything, do you?"

Lisbon's heart skipped a beat. "No, uh, I was just relaxing by myself. Would…would you like to come in?" God, she still felt awkward. Her date with Pike after her talk with Jane at the hospital earlier had done nothing to calm her down. If anything, it made her worse.

"Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks." Jane stepped through her door as she stepped aside and opened it wider to let him in.

Lisbon closed the door behind him, locked it and they stood in silence for a moment before she couldn't take it anymore. "So, what's up?"

Jane cleared his throat. "Not much. Just thought I would stop by."

"At almost one in the morning?"

Jane just turned to look at her, lacking an answer or witty comeback.

"You haven't 'just stopped by' since the CBI."

"I thought that maybe I'd bring back the old tradition." Jane tried to smile, but it looked broken and forced. He had tried to convince himself that this would be easy, but it really wasn't. He couldn't shake the awkward sadness that had flooded over him since Lisbon told him about the D.C. offer and then left the hospital with Pike.

Lisbon nodded, not sure how to respond. "We could…you want to sit down? Something to drink?"

"I don't really need anything to drink. We could just sit down."

"You're not even going to ask me if I have any tea?"

"I just finished a cup. It's okay."

Lisbon felt worse hearing that. He didn't even want tea. There was something _very_ wrong.

"Shall we?" Jane gestured to her living room.

"Yeah." Lisbon nodded. "Sure." and Jane let her lead the way into the living room. She sat down on the couch, Jane sitting next to her. They were silent for a few moments before Lisbon spoke again. "So…did you want to talk or something?"

"Yeah. I do, actually."

"Okay." Lisbon tucked some hair behind her ear and then clasped her hands tightly in her lap.

"It's, uh. It's actually about D.C." Jane could see the tension in her body and he felt bad, but he needed to tell her.

A part of Lisbon wanted him to talk to her about that, while the other part dreaded it; leaving her really confused about how she felt.

"Teresa. If it's really what you want, you should do it. If you're happy, I don't want to stop you. But I…if you decide to go, I will miss you."

Lisbon looked up from her hands to meet his gaze. "Really?"

Jane just wanted to wrap her up in a hug and beg her not to leave. He had come back for her. Made her a demand-and not even just a demand, but his _first_ demand. He wrote her every day, risking being discovered by the FBI just to feel close to her. She really didn't believe that he'd miss her!? He placed a hand over hers. "Really."

Lisbon just held his gaze, feeling like she couldn't breathe. What was she going to do? What was she supposed to say to any of this? "Are…are you sure you don't want some tea?" Genius.

Jane smiled gently at her. "If you insist. I can get it, though."

"No. It's okay." Lisbon got up.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Jane stood up as well.

"You don't even know where everything is."

"Show me. I'll make the tea."

Lisbon took a shaky breath, looking at him. She really didn't want to argue with him. Especially not about something as ridiculous as tea. "Okay."

Jane followed her into the kitchen, taking in the house. He hadn't really seen the inside before; but from what he was seeing so far, it was a lot nicer than the place she'd had in California.

Lisbon opened a cupboard and pulled down an unopened package of tea. "Here's the tea."

Jane was touched. He hadn't ever visited her at this house, but she had bought tea for him anyway. And, his favourite tea at that.

"There's some water in the pitcher in the fridge and I don't have a kettle, but you could boil some water on the stove. I mean, I know a kettle would be easier, but I just-"

"That's okay. I'll use a pot." Jane interrupted her babbling.

"Okay." Lisbon nodded. "Do you want me to wait in the living room or…?"

"Actually, just one more thing." Jane reached out and gently held her arm.

"Yeah?"

"Could I just…have a hug? It feels like forever since I hugged you."

"Yeah. Sure. Of course." Lisbon smiled, holding back tears.

Jane smiled back, warding off tears of his own as he wrapped her up in a tight hug. She hugged him back as he buried his face in her shoulder. God, he didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay so badly. What was he going to do if she left? Work wouldn't be the same. He wasn't sure he'd be able to take it if she left. He breathed in her scent, trying to add as many details to this memory as possible because there might not be another moment like this in a long time. He couldn't help the memories that flashed through his mind of all the good moments they had shared. This had happened when he left for the island, but that had been different. He had been determined to find a way to see her again then, but now he wasn't sure she'd come back.

"Jane?" Lisbon's voice was uneven. "…Patrick?"

"I'm sorry." Jane choked out, not lifting his head from her shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand-"

"Please don't go." a small sob escaped Jane's throat. "Please don't leave me, Teresa. I know I'm being selfish, but I don't want you to go."

Lisbon was surprised and held him tighter. "You didn't say anything earlier…"

"I just want you to be happy. I don't want to be in your way anymore. I'm sorry for everything that I put you through, but I'm just really going to miss you if you go." Jane couldn't help the tears that fell and soaked into Lisbon's shirt.

"I haven't decided yet." Lisbon reminded him, but she was starting to lose the battle against her tears as well. He very rarely cried in front of people, and it broke her heart to see him this upset. Particularly when she was the cause of it.

"I know, but still…"

"This isn't the last time we're ever going to see each other, Patrick. Stop talking to me like you're saying goodbye."

Jane lifted his head so that he could look at her and then reluctantly let her go. "I'm sorry. I didn't come her to try and upset you."

"If you're sad, you can talk to me." Lisbon wiped at one of his cheeks with her thumb. "You were always able to. I know you never really did, but the offer was still there. Still is."

Jane placed a hand over the one that she was using to wipe his tears.

"I never thought I'd see you this upset. Not now, at least. Not now that Red John is dead. You got what you wanted, Patrick. You killed Red John and you got away with it without going to jail. You got to just live it up in South America and when you came back, you were handed a job-forcefully handed a job, but still. What else could you possibly want, Patrick?"

"I want you to stay." he hardly got the words out of his mouth.

"Why?"

Jane tried to breathe as he felt his throat constricting. He didn't deserve her. He knew he didn't, but the possibility of losing her for good was too frightening. He'd tried to convince himself that he could cope with it, because it would mean that she could be happy; however, he couldn't do it. The selfish part of him couldn't let her go that easily. His best friend. His partner. His saving grace. He just couldn't do it. "I love you."

Lisbon pulled her hand away, folding her arms tightly over her chest and stepping backward; looking as surprised as if he had tried to bite her. "You decide to tell me this now?"

"I know it's not the best of timing-"

"You had _years_." Lisbon interrupted. "_Years_ to tell me that. And then that one time, you did. And you took it back not even twenty-four hours later. You basically told me it wasn't important. You did it as a spur of the moment thing. You didn't even remember it."

"I'm sorry." Jane told her quietly.

Lisbon tried to blink back tears. "I want to trust you, Patrick. I want to believe you, but you make it really difficult. I know you've been trying to get on my good side again, but I still don't know if I can really trust you. You're never completely honest with me. You never talk to me when you need to, despite the fact that you know you can. Why should I believe you now?"

Jane stepped toward her, placing his hands on her shoulders, lowering his head so that they were looking directly at each other and she could see he was telling the truth. "Because. I came back for you. Only you. You think I cared about being stalked around the island by the FBI? They couldn't do anything. They would have given up and left soon enough. Their threats meant nothing. You were the reason I came back, not them. Do you think I would have made you one of my demands, if you weren't important? And you weren't low on the list, if you recall. You were the first demand. Did you ever think about the fact that you were the most difficult demand for them to meat, yet they still met it? They could have bought me an airstream, no problem, and they did. But I told them it wasn't good enough. They needed to meet my number one demand first. The rest of it was just me taking advantage of the situation. Working with you again is what I really wanted."

"It doesn't make me feel better to know that the only reason I have this job is because you were a pain in Abbott's butt."

"That's not the only reason. You deserve this job. You really do. Think about it. You still outrank me. I told them to let you work with me. They didn't have to make you an agent. They could have made you a consultant too or something. You earned the badge, I just forced them to give you the opportunity to prove you deserved it." he watched her as the information settled in. "I took it back the first time I told you I loved you because I was scared. I wasn't just scared of Red John. I was scared that…I was scared that I wasn't ready. I was scared because I knew I didn't deserve you, and I know I still don't, but I can't…I just don't want you to go. I want you to be happy, Teresa. I know I'm not making this easier for you, but I don't want you to hold back because of me. I'm not going to hate you. I could never hate you. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I never told you. You wanted me to be honest with you and I am."

"I should be careful what I wish for, I guess."

Jane gave her a sad smile. "I guess so." he dropped his hands from her shoulders and stood up straight. "I'll be going then. I am really sorry, Teresa." Jane turned to leave, but Lisbon caught his arm.

"No, you have to stay. You can't say things like that and then simply leave. You have to fix this. This is your fault. You don't just get to walk away again." Lisbon sobbed.

Jane quickly turned around and wrapped her up in a hug. "Okay. I'm staying. I'm sorry-"

"Stop saying you're sorry!" Lisbon's voice was muffled by his shoulder.

"Okay." Jane rested his chin on her shoulder, noticing the tea on the counter that had been completely forgotten. He had just come to tell her he would miss her if she left, just let her know that he cared. This was not what he had planned. But then he had hugged her and everything tumbled out as his wall crumbled in her arms, taking her wall with it. Jane rubbed her back, soothingly. "We'll figure it out, Teresa. We'll talk about it. I'm here and we can talk about it and we'll sort it out."

"I didn't really want to go to D.C." Lisbon murmured against Jane's shoulder.

"Then why didn't you say no?"

Lisbon lifted her head from his shoulder. "He's a nice guy and he was really sweet and I wasn't sure. But then no one really seemed to care that much, least of all you, except to be happy I got the offer."

"Teresa. Of course I cared."

"Well that's not exactly how you acted. You practically pushed me to go out with Pike on that case out in the middle of nowhere and you were pretty much just going to let me go earlier when I told you about D.C. What was I supposed to think? So, I started to feel like I might as well just go. I didn't think it'd really make a difference."

"It would have made a huge difference to me." Jane kissed her forehead. "More than you would understand."

"Because you love me."

Jane gave her a small smile. "Look who's caught on."

Lisbon smacked his shoulder lightly, blushing.

Jane chuckled. "I've missed you, Teresa Lisbon."

Lisbon's cheeks darkened. "I missed you, too."

Jane's smile widened as he leaned closer to her. "Do you love me, as well?"

"Maybe."

"It's a little late to try and play 'hard to get', Teresa."

"I have to keep you in line somehow."

Jane grinned before pressing his lips against hers, revelling in the feel of her as she leaned more into him and kissed him back. He'd wanted this for years and he was starting to think it was impossible, but then it had happened and he wouldn't take it back for the world.

They were both panting when they pulled apart.

"That's the best thing I've done since I got back." Jane whispered, causing Lisbon's cheeks to darken even more as she looked away. "What?" Jane asked.

"I just…I feel bad. I feel like I led Marcus on."

"It's not completely your fault. You were just trying to find love because I was taking a long time. I'm sure you weren't dating him with any ill intentions, were you?"

Lisbon shook her head.

"There you go." Jane kissed the crown of her hair.

"He's going to be upset." Lisbon sighed.

"Are you saying you've changed your mind about staying?"

"No. I'm just not looking forward to telling Marcus that I'm staying."

Jane kissed her lips again. "Well, it needs to be done. And after, I'll take you out."

"Take me out?"

"Of course. You didn't expect me to not court you, did you?"

"Well, I…" Lisbon didn't know what to say. "Everything just changed so quickly."

"I know. But you won't regret it. I promise. Could you just do me one favour?"

"What?"

"Call me Patrick from now on. Not Jane."

"Fine, but not at work."

Jane pouted.

"Don't give me that look."

"Fine. But only because I'm glad you're staying." and he kissed her again.

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**Author's Note: So, that's it. Let me know what you thought in a review! Thanks for reading!**


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